Black Lion

My parents, Joan & Roger Graham, bought the Black Lion pub in 1963/4? and concentrated on building the business up and making it a large part of village life. With the full co-operation and hard work of my parents and the villagers, Abergorlech won the 'Best Kept Village in Wales' from 1964-1966. I have a photo of them outside the pub following their win in 1964. Dad introduced pub games and Mum her wonderful cooking (her chicken pie was second to none) and it soon became the hub of the village. I can remember a few wonderful Saturday nights when some of the men of the village sounded out their voices after a few bevvies, and what a beautiful sound that was. I returned to Abergorlech last June with my sisters-in-law. We were overwhelmed by the stunning beauty of the area (just as I remembered) and had a very good lunch in the Black Lion. It now has the addition of a restaurant where Dad's beer storage was, but I was pleased to note that although the village seems to be mostly holiday/weekend retreats now, it is still a welcoming village pub. I also remember the Post Office which was 'multi-functional'! You could buy anything from jeans, to deodorant to a tomato, could buy petrol and eventually I think it had a tea shop. How hard they must have worked.